Open flame deep fryer pots, as currently designed, pose a significant fire threat. When deep frying food items, such as a turkey, in a pot using flammable liquid over an open flame, there is a danger of the liquid overspilling the pot and coming in contacting with the flame which can cause a fire.
If the hot cooking oil overspills during the cooking or heating process, it typically runs down the edges of the pot and follows the pot's contour until it drips off onto a central portion of the cooking pot where the open flame is located, thereby creating the fire risk. This typically occurs when the food item, a turkey for example, is being placed into the oil to begin the cooking process; if care is not properly observed, the displacement of the food item will cause the oil to overspill. This can occur especially if the food item was not properly thawed and dried first. (Liquid water still on the food item can quickly be turned into boiling water and/or steam, with undesirable results.)
There are several renowned fire prevention organizations that have commented on the dangerous aspects of deep frying over an open flame with the currently designed pots. For example, U.L. (Underwriters Laboratories) does not certify any turkey fryers. “Based on our test findings, the fryers used are not worth the risks. If the cooking pot is overfilled with oil, the oil may spill out of the unit when the turkey is placed into the cooking pot. Oil may hit the burner or flames, causing a fire to engulf the entire unit.”
Another example is FEMA and the U.S. Fire Administration (at www.usfa.fema.gov). They state that, “even a small amount of cooking oil spilled on a hot burner can cause a large fire.”
A further example is the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), which “continues to believe that turkey fryers that use cooking oil, as currently designed, are not suitable for safe use. They pose a significant danger that hot oil will be released at some point during the cooking process. The burners that heat the oil can ignite spilled oil.”
Nevertheless, these open flame deep fryer pots are becoming more and more numerous, so they are apparently quite popular. Conventional devices known in the prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 1,622,587 (to Housel), which design was to prevent the liquid from extinguishing the flame, rather than preventing a fire. Another convention device includes U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2010/0101421 (Myshrall).
The problem with the designs in these conventional examples is, if the hot oil would overspill, there is a good chance it would spill onto the legs of the nearby person who is cooking, and potentially causing severe burns to that person.
FIG. 1 illustrates an outdoor cooking pot that is known in the prior art, generally designated by the reference numeral 5. The cooking pot 5 has a bottom stand 1, a burner 2, and a cooking chamber 3. The cooking chamber 3 is open at the top, which allows a human user to lower some type of food item into the cooking area using some type of basket or other frame, designated by the reference numeral 4 on FIG. 1.
This conventional cooking pot 5 includes a skirt that is generally designated by the reference numeral 6. If hot cooking oil should happen to spill over the top of a conventional open cooking pot, that hot oil could drain down the outer sides of the pot to the bottom, and then drip down into the open flame at the open flame burner. The skirt 6 prevents that from happening. Unfortunately, usually that cooking oil tends to overspill when a human user is lowering a large food item, such as a turkey, into the cooking chamber area at 3, using the basket 4. When that occurs, if the hot oil spills down the side of the cooking chamber 3 and off the sloped skirt 6, that hot oil will likely drain right onto the legs of the human user, potentially causing a severe burn to that human. This is a basic flaw in the design of the conventional cooking pot 5.